The Metropolitan Bible Church at Bank and McLeod could soon be the location for a new nine-storey condo which would involve tearing down the church.
The city’s endorsement of a nine-storey apartment building to be built on Bank Street is the latest sign of a growing disregard for heritage conservation guidelines, said members of Ottawa’s architectural conservation advisory committee.
The height and size of the building, which will occupy a block of Bank Street between Gladstone Avenue and MacLeod Street, is the major issue of concern, said committee chair Jay Baltz.
“This is essentially a kiss of death for that heritage district,” he said.
According to Baltz, the new apartment building, to be located at 453 Bank Street, will dwarf its neighbours and will eventually lead to similar large developments in the area.
The city’s planning and environment committee endorsed the development at a meeting in a 7-1 vote March 25, despite recommendations from the architectural advisory committee to reject the project plans on grounds that the proposed building was too big, too high and out of character with the rest of the heritage district.
Guidelines for development in heritage conservation zones were not taken seriously in the discussion of the building, which will surround the front of what is currently the Metropolitan Bible Church on Bank Street, Baltz said.
The city’s current heritage conservation guidelines will require revisions as they are often disregarded in practice, said Baltz.
The new building, being developed by the Urban Capital Property Group, will house 223 residential units and contain retail space on the ground floor.
Unit sales began March 27 and construction on the building is set to start in mid 2009, with occupancy scheduled for March 2011, according to Urban Capital developer Taya Cavanagh.
The new development will take into consideration the heritage buildings in the neighbourhood and incorporate the façade of the 70-year-old brick church currently on the site into the design, said Somerset Ward Coun. Diane Holmes who is responsible for the area and voted in favour of the development.
The church is moving to a bigger location on Prince of Wales Drive in June to better accommodate its large congregation.
The issue of the apartment building’s height will also be addressed by attempting to scale down part of the east façade of the development towards street level, Holmes said.
According to Holmes, while the height of the building might have posed a problem in another location, the current project will help spur development of the surrounding area which is presently made up predominantly of parking lots and a gas station.
“(The development) is on such a dead part of Bank. The benefits outstripped the height matter. It will help tie the north and south of Bank together,” Holmes said.
Building plans had met with no opposition from area residents even after flyers on the development had been distributed, said Holmes, adding that she will work directly with the developers on the project’s final plans.
Even with potential amendments to the plan, a nine-storey building will be out of scale with the existing neighbourhood on Bank street, said Capital Ward Coun. Clive Doucet, who was responsible for the only opposing vote to the development on the planning committee.
“It’s going to be 223 rabbit cages. They’re going to put in what looks like a set of barracks,” he said.
The residents of the new building will not be able to benefit from a neighbourhood park or community centre as none currently exist in the area, said Doucet.
He added that the proposed development was congested, unattractive and unsustainable.
According to Doucet, a three to six-storey building with surrounding green space would be a better alternative that would regenerate the area.